3 Things We’re Reading: Get to Know Dallas’ Patent Office Director

PATENT OFFICE DIRECTOR IS IN ‘DREAM JOB’; STUDENTS TRAVEL WORLD WITH NEW TECH; CHILI’S TO UNVEIL MOBILE PAYMENT OPTION

Every day Dallas Innovates staffers scour websites looking for the most interesting, important, and unusual stories about innovation and creativity. Here are three we thought you’d like:

We mentioned the new Texas Regional U.S. Patent and Trademark Office recently, but here’s a look into the Dallas office’s director Hope Shimabuku. For the Texas native, the director post at the Southwest’s first patent office is her dream job. “We have a huge growing community of startup companies and small businesses, and it shows the innovation and strength of the technical community here,” Shimabuku told D CEO. Here’s an interesting tid bit: in 2015, Texas received more than 10,000 patent grants. Only California surpassed Texas in terms of patent grants last year. Read more about Shimabuku from D CEO.

Students from Green Elementary School in Allen took a field trip to the Sahara Desert recently. OK, so they weren’t there physically, but through a Google virtual reality pilot program, students can travel the world from their classroom seat. Google Expeditions uses a pair of cardboard goggles containing a smartphone that has an application called “Google Cardboard,” downloaded. When students put on the goggles, a teacher can guide their voyages through the application on an iPad. Read more about the pilot program from the Allen American.

Dallas-based Ziosk and Chili’s Grill & Bar, the flagship brand of Dallas-based Brinker International, Inc., recently announced they will unveil an Android Pay experience in company-owned Chili’s restaurants nationwide. The new mobile payment option is planned to rollout during the third quarter of 2016. Here’s more about the collaboration.